I Still Love You
by LoveMeSomeMattHardy
Summary: Jeff Hardy x OC - Based on "Austin" by Blake Shelton - I own nothing to do with the song, Blake or Jeff - I can't really say anything about the plot. You just have to read it.


**She left without leaving a number.**  
**Said she needed to clear her mind.**  
**He figured she'd gone back to Austin.**  
**She talked about it all the time.**

Everything seemed so surreal, still. It had been five whole months since he'd found it, but even now it was like nothing had changed. It was like he was living the last two and a half years over again, but there was one element missing. He still woke up every morning, expecting to see her beautiful smile. When he found himself in an empty bed, his mind told him that his angel from above had already gotten up. The undisturbed sheets, though, on one side of the bed? Surely she'd straightened them. He got up, first checking the bathroom. Finding nothing, he moved out to the kitchen and living room. Finding both empty, he returned to the bedroom to ready himself for the day, assuring himself she'd stepped out, and he would see her soon. Little did he know, however... she would not be back...

Jeff Hardy was heartbroken. That was all there was to it. Five months prior, Alexa, the love of his life for two and a half years, the one woman he was sure he was destined to spend the rest of his life with, had ripped his heart out of his chest. If not literally, at the very least, figuratively. Like a bad dream, the memory of that day still blazed vividly in his mind...

He had just returned back to their hotel from a live RAW broadcast. Normally she went with him, but she'd stayed behind because she wasn't feeling well. Returning to the room, he unlocked the door and let himself in. Tossing his bag and car keys on the counter, a smile came to the high flyer's face as the scent of her perfume swirled around him. "Lex?" he called, looking around the large, open kitchen slash dinette slash living room area. No response. "Le-e-e-x?" he called in a singsong voice as he walked to the smaller bedroom, to see if she was in there. Again, no response. Looking around the room, he spotted something lying on a pillow of the freshly made bed. A sheet of paper, folded twice. Walking over, Jeffpicked it up and sat down on the bed. Unraveling the folds, he instantly recognized Alexa's handwriting. On the paper, she had written a letter. To him. It read:

_Jeff, _

_I'm sorry to leave this way, but it's the only way I know to make it without having to see the tears I know are forming in your eyes as you read this. You are a great man - I just need some... space. To clear my mind. If we are truly destined to be together I am sure, in time, our paths will cross again. _

_Love, _  
_Alexa _

After that, it all goes a bit fuzzy. All he knows to this day is that he was overcome by sadness. A sadness he had to try to fight. And how do you do that? Well... pick your poison ...

The next day, though, it was like nothing had happened. It was like he was living his life as though she was there, when really, she wasn't. Jeff's mind had him thoroughly convinced that they were simply missing each other, an they'd bump into one another inevitably, and things would go back to the way they were. And that's how his life would go on for months after; a fool's masquerade. Nobody who tried to explain to him what had happened could get through. Not even his brother Matt. And it was Matt who tried hardest to get through to him.

**It was almost a year **  
**Before she called him up **  
**Three rings and an answering machine**  
**Is what she got **

Four months or so after the five-month struggle to convince Jeff that it was time to move on and forget about what had happened, Alexa Alexander, the very woman who was causing all of the emotional distress, was sitting alone, in silence, on the back patio of her Auburn Hills, Michigan home, on a sunny Sunday afternoon in mid July. She had been doing a lot of that lately. Just... sitting. Staring off into space and losing a large amount of consciousness about what was going on around her at the time often accompanied the action. She had been doing a lot of thinking at times like this. Thinking about that decision she'd made nearly ten months ago. If she was a good, honest Christian, Alexa couldn't lie... she was sure she was starting to regret it. She still had his number stored in her cell phone - she could never quite bring herself to delete it - and she debated calling him. She knew he probably wouldn't want to talk to her, and she didn't blame him. But she had also been the one who had written that their paths would cross again if they were destined to be together. And more and more recently, it seemed to Alexa that that truly was their destiny... why else would she be thinking about and missing him so much? This was the perfect opportunity and chance to ensure that their paths did indeed cross. Before Alexa knew it she had stood up and was walking inside. She picked up her phone, found his number, and dialed.

One ring. Two rings. She knew he was probably ignoring her call. Three rings.

Voicemail.

**If you're calling about the car, I sold it.**  
**If this is Tuesday night, I'm bowling.**  
**If you've got something to sell me, you're wasting your time.**  
**I'm not buying.**  
**If it's anybody else, wait for the tone. You know what to do.**  
**PS- if this is Austin… I still love you.**

"Hey guys, Jeff here. Can't get to my phone right now - I'm either probably in the ring or screwing around with Matt and Shannon. You know what to do when you hear the beep. And Alexa, if it's you, please leave a message... I miss you..."

**The telephone fell to the counter**  
**She heard but she couldn't believe **  
**What kind of man would hang on that long?**  
**What kind of love that must be?**

She nearly dropped her cell phone into the dink of soapy dishwater she was standing over. Had she seriously just heard that? He... missed her? He really was just as great a guy as she remembered. Surely she thought he would have forgotten all about her and found someone new. But he hadn't. He was still holding out for their relationship to come around. The more Alexa thought about how good she'd felt when she was with him, the more she realized ... she'd never felt more loved.

**She waited three days**  
**And then she tried again **  
**She didn't know what she'd say**  
**But she heard three rings and then **

Three days later, Alexa called Jeff's phone again. A reputed skeptic, she figured the feeling of euphoria she'd had upon hearing his words the first time would fade after a day or so and she would go back to feeling normally again. But... it hadn't faded! So after three days passed, she decided to call him again, on Wednesday night. She figured he probably wasn't too busy on a Wednesday night...

**If it's Friday night I'm at the ball game**  
**And first thing Saturday, if it don't rain**  
**I'm headed out to the lake**  
**And I'll be gone**  
**All weekend long**  
**But I'll call you back**  
**When I get home on Sunday afternoon**  
**PS- if this is Austin… I still love you. **

Again, she heard three rings, then a voicemail greeting:

"Hey guys. Out of the country for a quick bit, and, of course, my crappy cell phone doesn't have reception over here. I'm gone from Wednesday to late, late Saturday. Leave me a message, and I'll give you a call when I get back to Cameron on Sunday. Alexa ... if that's you ... I love you ... please leave me a message." Beep.

**This time she left her number**  
**But not another word **  
**Then she waited by the phone on Sunday evening**  
**And this is what he heard **

This time he had actually said it. Alexa could hardly believe it. It had to be for real. He still loved her. That could only mean that she was still in love with him too. Suddenly, memories came flooding back. Their first kiss... all the nights out they'd spent together... all the nights they'd spent alone together... in an instant, it was clear as day in her mind. She'd made a big mistake. The only problem was, was it too late to do anything about it? Before she knew it, she was speaking into the telephone. "Eight one nine... three eight four... six nine four eight... " Then she hung up. All she could do now was wait, to see if he would call back.

The following Sunday, Alexa was in the kitchen, doing dishes and cleaning up from a race party she'd had with her friends and family. She was washing large snack bowls and humming to herself when... her phone rang. She dried her hands off quickly, and ran to the living room, picking up her phone off the coffee table. One look at the picture displayed on the Caller ID screen instantly told her who was calling.

**If you're calling about my heart**  
**It's still yours **  
**I should have listened to it a little more**  
**Then it wouldn't have taken me so long**  
**To know where I belong **  
**And by the way, boy, **  
**This is no machine you're talking to **  
**Can't you tell? This is Austin… **  
**And I still love you.**  
**I still love you.**

Alexa answered, and spoke without hesitation. "If you're calling about my heart... it's still yours... I... I should have... listened to it... a little more than I listened to my head. If I'd've done that... it wouldn't have taken me... so long... to realize where it is that I belong. Jeff... this is Alexa... and I still love you, too..."

Jeff was speechless. He had not quite been expecting that.

-

Three weeks later, Alexa was back on the road with Jeff. It took her a while to get things sorted out back home, but she did. Then she packed up and got the first flight out to meet him. The two were back together at last, as was destined, and that was all that mattered. 


End file.
